Two hours into the trip: Elevation: Sea Level. Lovely lunch in Marisco El Asul in Yuma - not all seafood in the desert is bad.
After Gila Bend, Maricopa, Chandler, and Mesa - lovely stop in Sonoran Desert on AZ SR 87.
Night spent in Payson, AZ. First destination in the morning: Mogollon Rim.
Finally, after many "brush passes," we drive through Petrified Forest National Park.
We still have plenty of highway miles to cover on Interstate 40. Road condition: atrocious. At least, AZ DOT is working on it, causing grief mostly for westbound traffic.
Having enjoyed our first-ever sobriety checkpoint on the NM/CO state border on NM SR 170, we finally
settle in our Double Tree hotel room in Durango, overlooking Animas River, and listening to railroad engine whistles.
First trip of the day: leave U.S.550 in Purgatory and climb towards Bolam Pass. We stop way short of the pass,
for a quick hike while hunting for wild mushrooms.
No mushrooms found, back to 550 - and on to beautiful fall foliage near Silverton.
We are lucky: two trains from Silverton are about to depart to Durango. We just must park close by and
take photos and record the video of the Grenadier next to a steam engine.
The Grenadier clocks 14 thousand miles exactly at the Red Mountain Pass. We continue on to Ouray, and get our room
at Twin Peaks Lodge and Hot Springs. We fry our small collection of slimy jacks with sour cream on a freshly-bought
stainless frying pan from Kristopher's Culinaire.
The morning is sunny - but the clouds are arriving. We don't have enormous plans for the day - drive to Red
Mountain pass, mull around Yankee Girl Mine, maybe hunt for wild mushrooms near Ironton.
By the time we decide to take a walk in the woods, the soft rain changes to soft snow pellets.
We return to Ouray in late afternoon - perfect to enjoy cocktails while sitting in hot springs
at the hotel. The dinner at the bar of Brickhouse 737 is great.
* * *
In the morning, the mountains around Ouray all have snow caps.
Our grand plan for the day is to finally drive the complete
Alpine Loop - Mineral Creek to Engineer Pass, on to Capitol City and Lake City, and return via Animas Forks,
Cinnamon Pass and Silverton.
Either I am getting old, or the Grenadier is too wide, or Mineral Creek trail is gradually becoming harder.
After the climb that turned out more arduous than I remembered, we pull over close to the juncture with
Poughkeepsie Gulch for a little coffee break.
After meandering up the mountainside in dense clouds, we emerge on Engineer Pass to find some fresh snow around.
The Grenadier takes it in stride.
Down a couple of thousands of feet, the aspens are back in play - and don't disappoint.
On the way to Capitol City, we pass a friendly group from Arizona Land Rover Club - which also includes a
Grenadier.
We continue to Lake City - where I convince Lena to have lunch at Packers' Saloon.
Somehow, she thinks it wouldn't take a long time to return to Ouray - but I know the truth.
It takes us close to an hour and a half to reach Cinnamon Pass. This trip marks the
first time when we don't stop in Animas Forks for a stroll, and I only take a shot from above.
By the time we fly through Silverton, taking photos of insanely bright foliage and an occasional moose, and
arrive to Ouray, it is already evening. Lena casually overstates our driving time by a couple of hours and
is otherwise unimpressed.
* * *
The sun is out, and Ouray is back to its splendor.
To make up for the lost-for-hiking time, we head out to Box Canyon Falls in the morning.
The falls are indeed impressive, and it blows our mind that we must have visited Ouray close to ten times
without ever walking uphill from the hotel.
We spend some time walking
the side streets and visiting old hotels (like St.Elmo). Lena flat out refuses to partake in any
four-wheeling in the rest of the day and retires to the hot springs; I head out towards Corkscrew Pass.
The scenery is flat out gorgeous. I visit the little valley overlooking the Red Mountain(s), take a million
photos, and pay homage to Hurricane Pass. California Pass, Lake Como, and Poughkeepsie Gulch will have to wait
for another trip.
I return to U.S. 550 via Silverton, and take another thousand or so of photos of aspens on the mountainsides.
* * *
Today we leave Ouray - but not without at least a little dirt driving. We drive north to Ridgway, then
east on SR 62 towards the Last Dollar Road.
The Last Dollar Road is beautiful as always, yet it gets really crowded in early afternoon.
We drop down to SR 145, and continue South towards a turn-off to Dunton Road.
We had some serious expectations of the Dunton Hot Springs; but ... don't show up without a reservation.
The people who charge a dozen Ben Franklins for a day/night are too busy to pay attention to any wayward
travellers.
The way from Dunton to Dolores is along a beautiful backcountry road - which we'd absolutely enjoyed
if not for a passive-aggressive lady in a Subaru (of course), who insisted in driving between 5 and 10 miles
slower than a posted 25 mph limit.
In a cafe in Dolores, we meet an old man who we met earlier in a tight spot between Hwy.145 and Dunton.
He asked us about the hot springs with a chuckle - "What do you guys make of it? Bizarre place, it is..."
* * *
The rest of the day was spent on mindless driving along U.S. 160, then U.S. 89, to Flagstaff. We found a
gorgeous little 8-room hotel in downtown (Bespoke Inn), and made it to Atria Restaurant for dinner.
Every dish and drink we had in Atria was outstanding, including a huge plate of properly-cooked duck breast.
In the morning, we make a serious attempt to find a place for breakfast. The only place open is Petit Marche,
with the name alluding to French connection - the coffee definitely was not, and the sandwiches uninspiring.
Flagstaff doesn't seem to wake up early.
After our lame breakfast, Lena expresses a desire to arrive home as soon as possible. I am trying to
cling to somewhat off-Interstate route, and we end up driving through Oatman and dodging the burros
and teenage tourists.
In Needles, Arizona, the Grenadier's finicky gas gauge assures me that we have plenty of juice to go with,
so we skip the last chance to top off with $3.50/gallon gas. 60 fast highway miles later on Interstate 40,
we realize that we won't see another gas station for close to 70 miles, and turn south on Kelbaker Road
towards Amboy.
Google Maps doesn't promise gas in Amboy, but there's a pump at the historic Roy's Motel and Cafe.
Only premium gas is present (which suits us fine), at $6.99/gallon. The girl has to leave the counter with
the keys to remove the padlock on the pump lever (that's a really historic old pump, too), and use a bit
of twine to keep the lever up and pump running.
The rest of our way home is zigzagging in Mojave Desert - first to Twentynine Palms, then to Yucca Valley,
then to Beaumont and Gilman Hot Springs, to hit the Interstate again in Perris.
Somewhere near Temecula, the Grenadier notches another thousand mile mark - fifteen this time.
Surprisingly, we arrive home way early, and unpack the car hours before sunset. All of our family
members who usually make home noisy are still traveling - some from France, some from Vermont, so
it is unbelievably quiet.
* * *
